Stocking



R. E. DAVIS Jan. 17, 1939.

STOCKING 5, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.

5 fnuenz or Jan. 17, 1939. R DAVIS 2,144,563-

STOCKING Filed Dec. 5, 1936 3 SheetS-Sheet 2 wag M R. E, DAVIS Jan. 17,1939.

STOCKING Filed Dec. 5, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 17, 1939 IUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3,144,503 s'rocxme Robert E. Davis, FortPayne, Ala., assignor to W.

B. Davis & Son, Inc., Fort Payne, Ala, a corporation of AlabamaApplication December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,479

1 Claim.

sweat socks. However, as will appear later,-

the invention is not restricted to any particular use, as hosiery madein accordance with the principles of the present invention may be usedfor any purpose, or at any time, when a stocking capable of absorbingperspiration is desired, or where extra warmth is desired, or when acushioning effect is desired in the toe, heel, foot sole, or anycombination of these parts in a stocking, as the object and purpose ofthe present invention is to provide neat-appearing hosiery having eachand all or any of the above noted characteristics.

Sweat socks are primarily employed for the purpose of absorbingperspiration, as the name implies. The particular partsof the foot whichperspire most profusely are the toes, heel and foot sole. This type ofstocking heretofore has been composed of relatively heavy absorbent yarnthroughout, including the instep, ankle, leg, and cufi portions wherelittle or no actual or excessive perspiringoccurs. This renders thearticle rather unsightly, undesirable and unpopular for many purposes,especially with women.

Another purpose of the sweat sock is to prevent the formation ofblisters on the foot while participating in some-competitive sport orwhile indulging in some more or less violent exercise, or in hiking.Formation of blisters, or other chafing of the skin, is frequentlycaused by the shoe which, for the purpose of freedom of action, isusually of a more or less loose fit. The wearing of sweat socks, inaddition to absorbing per-' spiration, is resorted to for comfortablyfilling the space between the shoe and the foot, without presenting anyrestriction to the freedom of the foot.

Sweat socks and other hosiery are subject to excessive wear at the toesand heels, due to movement of the foot in the shoe.

,The present invention is directed toward the provision of a stockingwhich will fulfill all the requirements and overcome the objectionsabove noted and which will present a. neat, dressy appearance, making itpossible to wear the stocking on occasions where the ordinary sweat sockwould be undesirable or considered improper.

The object of the present invention is attained by the use of anadditional thread or yarn in the toe, heel, foot sole, or any of saidportions, and which is knit into the stocking fabric at these places inwhat is known as terry stitches 'or terry loops. That is, the stockingis formed in any ordinary manner of a silk, wool, or cotton body threador a thread composed of silk and wool or wool and cotton, etc., whichgives the dressy 5 appearance to the outside of the article. In theheel, toe, or foot sole an additional thread composed of wool or cotton,or both, for example, is knit intothe body-of the fabric with the bodythread in forming the body stitches. the body stitch wales, theadditional yarn is formed into loops which protrude inwardly from theinside face of the body of the fabric and which provide the other abovenoted require- 5 ments.

The additional thread may be of a relatively tightly twisted character,when used primarily for cushioning purposes and wherein the terry loopssubsequently maintain their individuality, or the additional threadloose twisted character which, in addition to providing the cushioningeffect, will be of a highly absorbent nature. The cushioning andabsorbing qualities may be accentuated by subjecting the terry loops toa brushing operation, whereby the fibers of the yarn of adjacent terryloops will become more or less commingled or matted to provide a softabsorbent cushion in those parts of the stocking to which the extrathread is ap- 30 plied.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive illustrate stockings turned inside out with theterry stitches produced in various portions of the foot of the stocking.For example, Fig. 1 illustrates the terry stitches in the heel,foot-sole, lower and upper portions of the toe% and part way along thetop portion of the foo Fig. 2 illustrates a stocking similar to that 40shown in Fig. 1 and wherein the terry stitches terminate at the rearedge of the upper portion of the toe;

Fig. 3 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are eliminatedfrom the top of the foot 5 and the upper portion of the toe;

Fig. 4 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are eliminatedentirely from the toe;

Fig; 5 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confinedsolely to the heel of the stocking;

Fig. 6 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confinedsolely to the lower and upper toe portions 01' the stocking;

Fig. 7 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry 5 5 Between 10 may be ofa relatively stitches are confined solely to the upper portion of thetoe of the stocking;

Fig. 8 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confined tothe foot-sole portion of the stocking, between the front of the heel andthe back of the toe portions thereof;

Fig. 9 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches extendthroughout the toe and the footsole portions of the stocking andterminate .at the front of the heel portion of the stocking;

Fig. 10 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confinedto the lower heel portion, the foot-sole portion, and the lower toeportion of the stocking;

Fig. 11 is a stitch diagram illustrating the manner in which the terrystitches or loops are produced; and

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 showing the terry loops as havingbeen brushed to loosen the fibers thereof whereby the said fibers ofadjacent terry loops will co-mingle with each other in the manner abovenoted.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive, the stocking 1 includes an ankleportion 2, an instep portion 3, a top foot portion 4, an upper toeportion 5, a lower toe portion 6, a foot-sole portion 1, a heel portionor pocket 8, an upper heel reinforce portion i0, and a cuff portion ll.

Obviously, the stocking may be of a knee length or full length withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and wherein the cuff H wouldconstitute the stocking top or welt. Also, the stocking may be of theflat knit, full fashioned type or mock fashion type, or of the seamlesscircular knit type fashioned in knitting or by removing portions of thetube subsequent to knitting or by regulating the tension of the knittingthread or the length of the stitches or both during knitting of thetube. In the present instance, a seamless circular knit stocking isillustrated and wherein the top H is of the usual ribbed fabric type andwhich is topped on to the needles of the circular knitting machine whichknits the leg or angle portion 2 down to the inner end or point l2 ofthe heel gore l3 at which time the machine effects reciprocatingknitting in the usual manner to provide the heel pocket 8. Aftercompleting the heel pocket 8, the machine changes to and continuescircular knitting, to knit the upper foot portion 4 and the foot-soleportion 1, down to the inner end or point M of the toe gore l5, afterwhich reciprocatory knitting is produced to provide the toe pocket 66which is composed of the upper and lower toe portions 5 and 6respectively. The stocking is completed subsequently by looping theforward end of the upper foot portion 4 to the rear edge of the uppertoe portion 5, along the line IT, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

It is usual, during the knitting of the leg portion of a seamlessstocking, to introduce a reinforcing thread in the rear half of thelower part of the leg in a predetermined number of courses previous tothe beginning of the reciprocating knitting for the production of theheel pocket 8, in order to provide a high splice heel reinforcementwhich corresponds to the terry stitch area ID of Fig. 1, between the topline it thereof and the point l2 of the heel gore 13. The reinforcingthread is knit with the body thread in stitches of the same size andcharacter as the stitches produced by the body thread from the top lineof the heel reinforce through the heel pocket, footsole and toe of thestocking. Usually the reinforcing thread is knit into the fabric so asto appear on the outer face of the finished article.

In the present case, the thread which is to form the terry loops isintroduced to the needles of the knitting machine instead of the usualsplicing thread and in such relation to the body thread that the terryloop thread will be carried to the back of the fabric, that is, to thatface of the fabric which is to form the inside of the completed article,whereby the terry thread will be buried in the fabric and will not bevisible from the outside of the completed article. The terry loopthread, however, will be knit with the body fabric thread, stitch forstitch, in those portions of the stocking where the terry loops are tobe made, but instead of conforming entirely to the size and shape of thebody stitches, as in ordinary reinforcing work, those portions of theterry thread which connect each two adjacent stitches in a course andwhich are commonly referred to as the sinker loops of a knitted fabricare elongated relative to the sinker loops of the body fabric and theseelongated sinker loops produce or constitute the terry loops referred toherein.

The elongated sinker loops or terry loops may be produced in differentways, for example, by sinkers having the usual or ordinary bodythread-engaging notch and a second portion in the form of a notch orincline or other edge-so positioned and constructed with respect to thebody thread notch that when the sinker is moved inwardly to sink thebody yarn a definite distance around and between the needles of theknitting machine to produce the normal sinker loops of the body fabricthe additional portion of the sinker which engages the terry loop threadwill sink a greater amount of yarn between the needles than was sunk forthe corresponding body thread loop and whereby the terry loops are maderelatively longer than the sinker loops of the body thread, the extentof the elongation depending upon the relationship between the portionsof the sinkers which engage the body and terry threads respectively.

In Fig. 11, a body thread A is shown as having been knitted intostitches w, a. in successive courses C, C, producing needle wales W, W.The needle loops a, a in each course C are connected by sinker loops a aproducing sinker wales S, S, between the needle wales W, W.

A second thread B is shown as having been knitted into needle loops b, bin each course 0, with each loop b substantially the same size as andcoinciding with a needle loop a composed of the body thread A. Theneedle loops 1), b in each course C are connected by sinker loops b DThe sinker loops b, b are elongated with respect to the sinker loops a aand protrude from the plane of the fabric; The elongated sinker loops bb collectively form a cushioning pad on the one face of the knittedfabric. The thickness of this pad is governed by the extent ofprotrusion or the length of the sinker loops b D The sinker loops b b inextending individually from the one face of the fabric produce the terryeffect and for this reason are termed terry loops.

The number of stitches per inch, walewise and coursewise of the fabric,and the count quality and character of the terry thread B determines thecompactness of the terry areas of the fabric.

In Fig. 12, the terry loops b b are shown as having been brushed toproduce a fleece effect on the one face of the fabric. It will beunderstood that the terry loops are normally in closely adJacent orabutting relation to each other and that the brushing of these loopscauses the fibers of the yarn of the various loops to become comingledor matted with each other, causing the terry loops to lose theirindividuality to a greater or lesser extent depending upon thecompactness of the fleece desired. A

It will be understood that all of the terry areas, i. e. the heel,foot-sole or toe may be either plain terry, as in Fig. 11, or'brushedterry, as in Fig. 12, or some of the areas may be plain while others arebrushed, depending upon the requirements of the ultimate consumers.

Stockings of the kind described as forming the subject matter of thepresent invention may be produced on flat full fashioned hosieryknitting machines using the regular splicing or plating attachmentscommon thereto. The stocking may also be produced on machines adaptedfor the knitting of fashioned seamless tubular knit hosiery and providedwith the usual reinforcin mechanism.

If desired, the stocking may be produced on circular machines equippedwith double sole at tachments or on reciprocating machines provided withsplit sole mechanism.

In Figs. 11 and 12, the terry loops are shown as being provided at eachwale in each course of the fabric, but it will be understood that theterry loops may be provided at relatively spaced wales or relativelyspaced courses or spaced coursewise and walewise if desired.

I claim:

A seamless knitted sweat sock, including a short ankle section, a footsection, and an instep section, comprising a body yarn, with said footsection comprising a toe portion, a heel portion,

and a foot sole portion including an additional yarn interknit with saidbody yarn solely in said toe, heel and foot sole portions and formedinto terry loops commingling and collectively forming a fleece area onone face of the stocking fabric within said portions, and with saidankle and 2 instep sections composed solely of said body yarn. 0

ROBERT E. DAvIs.

